Queensland leave Blues Marooned

The always proud Maroons of Queensland have kept a disappointing New South Wales side scoreless for the second time in their State Of Origin history, however no performance has been more convincing than tonights 30 points to nil drubbing at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, in front of a sell-out crowd of 52,416.

While Queensland know all too well what it's like to be kept from crossing the opposition tryline (8-0 in 1990 & 14-0 in 1994), tonight they were methodical in their dominance, Johnson, Crocker & Harrison putting that extra feeling into their tackles, Thurston & Prince combining perfectly to steer a well drilled team around the park, never giving the Blues a clean look at the Maroon tryline.

Mark Gasnier would have no doubt been very happy after Origin 1, but tonight he was up against the attacking flair of Greg Inglis, who left both Gasnier and Turner in his wake as he strode down field to send debutant winger Darius Boyd in for his first Origin try in the 7th minute. 15 minutes later and the same 2 Queenslanders combined in a carbon copy of the first try, handing Boyd a double on debut, a headache for Gasnier and Turner and a smile as big as the Story Bridge for Inglis and the Queensland crowd.

Constant Maroon pressure and several New South Wales errors led to 2 penalties being converted by Thurston to give Queensland a 16-0 lead going into halftime. A third penalty goal after the restart put the lead out to 3 converted tries until the 63rd minute when Ben Hannant joined the scorers list, barging over from close range through attempted tackles by Gasnier and Mason. After Scott Prince chipped over the top for a flying Israel Folau to collect his second Origin try, the series was level at 1-all and Queensland had finally showed the form that saw them installed as firm favourites prior to Origin 1 in Sydney.

Queensland were best served by Thurston and Prince, the latter enjoying a superb return to rep footy. Inglis and Tate shone out wide, but without the forwards doing their job the 30-0 scoreline wouldn't have been made possible, hence every Queensland forward put their hand up tonight and washed themselves clean of a less than flattering performance in Game 1.

The combination of Bird and Wallace struggled all night for New South Wales, mostly due to pressure applied by great Maroon defence. Kurt Gidley came on from the interchange bench and tried to spark a revival, but with such dominant opposition and an apparent lack of cohesion between the men in blue jerseys his task seemed almost impossible right from the get-go.

Any changes for Game III for the Maroons should only be brought about by suspension or injury, as well as the possible return of Darren Lockyer, however Prince did nothing tonight to suggest that he is out of his depth at this elite level. One would expect the New South Wales selectors to make a number of changes, particularly in the halves as well as selecting more noted frontrowers to start the match both on the field and from the bench.

Welcome to LeagueUnlimited.com's Live Update of Game II in State Of Origin for 2008, live from Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. The weather for tonights game is nothing short of perfect for night footy, the current temperature is sitting at 19.0